


Protection

by ana181



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: M/M, Protection, Spirit World, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-10
Updated: 2012-11-10
Packaged: 2017-11-18 09:06:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/559254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ana181/pseuds/ana181
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the entire world has lost the favor of the spirits, it's up to Iroh to protect them all.  But when a particular earth bender becomes a target for the angered spirits, Iroh must chose between Bolin's life or the world as a whole.  However, the decision isn't that difficult to make as one might think.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Protection

Fire rained down from the sky, barely missing the head of a normally cheerful earth bender. The earth bender was far from cheerful today; his usual optimistic self was dispelled by the chaos around him.

“Bolin!” shouted General Iroh, running past soldiers to stand by Bolin’s side. “I saw that, are you okay?” Iroh’s hands unconsciously touched his face, shoulders, side, checking to see if anything was broken.

“Don’t worry about me, General,” said Bolin, throwing up an earth wall just in time. A large ball of fire smashed into the wall, causing small pieces of rock to fall on their heads. Bolin was touched by Iroh’s care, but their relationship could not exist right now. This was war, and they had two different roles. Bolin was in charge of protecting the generals of the United Nations Army and Iroh was in charge of directing the war. “Go win this.” Bolin placed a hand on Iroh’s shoulder and they shared a long look.

_Be safe,_ said Iroh with his eyes.

_I will._ Bring us home.

Iroh jogged back to join Bumi, general of the second division of the United Nations Army. Bolin fell in line with the rest of the earth benders, throwing up shields when necessary. While most of the earth benders focused solely on the generals, Bolin widened his range. He tried to save as many lives as he could, throwing up shields in front of regular foot soldiers when he felt they were in dire danger.

Iroh watched Bolin a little longer, his nerves on edge. Every fiber of his being wanted to sweep Bolin into his arms and run as far away from the battle as he could and then leave Bolin with a friendly pair of old women. He wanted to protect Bolin. But Bolin was right. He had a duty.

Iroh drew his attention back to the scene before him. It wasn’t just benders they were fighting; it was the spirit world they also battled. A group of anti-spirit world benders had risen up a few months ago, and the power of their bending was astounding. Iroh knew that this wasn’t a rag-tag group that sprung up out of nowhere. He was willing to bet this was an ancient cult that sat harboring its hatred until the right moment arose. Their moment came when Amon took Korra’s bending.

Then all hell broke loose. They swarmed into the city like a group of ants out of an anthill. Their numbers were too huge, and when they caught Korra alone, they easily over powered her. Her death was quick, but had disastrous effects. Korra died in the avatar state.

No one was prepared for what happened next. A war had already been started between the world and the anti-spirit world army who called themselves the Realists. When Korra died, the spirit world appeared, fighting back with no mercy. They did not differentiate between the sides. They attacked everyone equally.

The more Iroh thought about the situation, the more what Bolin said made sense. He had to cut Bolin out from his thoughts.

_I do not know Bolin,_ thought Iroh to himself.

“Do you think those spirit folks are transparent?” asked Bumi, bringing Iroh back into general mode.

“I hope not,” said Iroh. He winced on the inside. Iroh was a spiritual man, having close family connections to the avatars. The thought of attacking the spirit world went against everything he believed. But his loyalty to the mortals was a stronger bond. He had to protect his people. Most of all, he had to protect Bolin.

“Where do you think they’re hiding? I want them to come out and fight. I’ll give ‘em a good ol’ Bumi welcome.”

“For an Air Nomad, you sure are anxious to attack the people of the spirit world,” observed Iroh, raising his eyebrows. “Your father’s up there, you know.” Iroh immediately regretted pointing that out as he watched a series of conflicting emotions flash across his father’s face.

“If I know Aang, he is one hundred percent against what is happening.”

“I don’t want them to show themselves,” said Iroh, going back to the original comment. “The damage they are doing now is monumental. I don’t even want to imagine what will happen if they come to earth. Dad, they might kill us all.”

Bumi didn’t answer, and Iroh was surprised by the silence. Bumi always seemed to have something to say.

“Gather around,” said Iroh, raising his voice above the noise and switching into leader mode. He gathered all the officials who were with them. Iroh was pleased that Bolin had sense to encase them in earth. Iroh was glad that amidst the chaos Bolin kept his common sense. “Let’s explore our weaknesses. One, we have no clue how to fight spirits. Two, the spirit world is raining hell down upon us, making everything we need to do ten times more difficult. Three, we’ve lost sight of the Realists. Our strengths, we still have our wits about us.”

“Our odds sound pretty good,” commented Bumi. Iroh ignored him.

“Our best bet is defense. Keep our earth benders shielding us from the aerial onslaught. I got news earlier that on the shores and by the rivers our water benders are holding up, trying their best to contain the floods that are threatening to come ashore. Obviously, they can’t hold up forever. I’m sending our fire benders out on a search for the Realists, lead by Air Bender Tenzin. I do not, and I repeat, do not want anyone attacking the spirit world. Maybe, just maybe, they will realize we aren’t after them, instead we fight for them. I want all focus on keeping us alive.”

“We can’t hold up forever,” commented one of the men who stood huddled up next to Iroh.

“I know. I’m praying the spirits realize we aren’t the ones they should attack before they reveal themselves.”

“They might not hear you, Iroh,” said Bumi.

“Then I’ll just have to pray louder. Now let’s get to work, men!” As if on cue, the earth dome fell away.

“Iroh!” shouted Bolin, pointing up at the sky.

“Shit,” muttered Iroh.

“I guess they didn’t hear you,” said Bumi.

The sky was a mixture of colors. Lightning bolts of blue, red, orange, purple, and silver lit up the sky. The sky churned grey and white, and clouds circled until they formed a funnel in the sky. Blue tendrils made their way from the heavens to the earth. Large images started to form in the tendrils. They took on the bodies of a human, but all enlarged a hundred times the size of the average man.

Then Iroh’s worst nightmare came true. The first person the spirits attacked was Bolin.

Iroh was running to Bolin’s aide before Bolin even reacted. Bolin was too awe struck by the scene, and his response time was too late. The earth wall barley got up over his head in time, but it didn’t hold. An enormous blast of wind broke the rock into a thousand tiny pieces. The force of the wind threw Bolin onto his back. Iroh threw his body on top of Bolin to shield him from another assault.

“I’ll always protect you,” he shouted in the last seconds he had left.

Going against everything he ever believed in, everything he was ever taught, Iroh raised his hands to the sky. One hand pointed to the looming spirits above, another to the swirling sky.

Iroh channeled a bolt of red lightning threw his body, almost killing him in the process, and shot it out at the closest spirit, just as the spirit started its attack on the two men.

The lightning hit with astounding pageantry. Bright colors flashed, to be seen all across the world, which blinded Iroh before he fell unconscious.

* * *

 

Iroh’s eyes flashed open and he sat straight up in bed, the covers falling to the floor. Five minutes were spent trying to catch his breath. Everything seemed so real, the hard earth floor, the noise, the colors, and the emotions.

Iroh turned over; making sure Bolin was still there. Bolin was sleeping soundly, right where Iroh left him hours ago.

_It was just a dream,_ he told himself as he lied back down in bed. He wrapped his arms around Bolin, wanting to make sure he was correct. They were safe; there were no wars, no deaths. _What a brutal nightmare._

**Author's Note:**

> This was my submission for day two of Broh week which started in the end of July and went until the beginning of August. The theme was, obviously, protection.
> 
> Oh look, some of my head-canon slipped onto the page. Yes, in my head-canon, Bumi is Iroh's father. I've always imagined that Iroh and Bumi had a really relaxed relationship, Bumi not liking to treat Iroh like a young child, instead, he enjoyed to treat him more like an equal. And with Iroh now a young man, the two have become more like best friends, both of them not knowing what they would do without each other to complement their personalities.


End file.
